The Liberator Collection: Part III

(Edited by Max Eastman,  1920-1922)

In March of 1918, a mere three months after the Federal Government and US Postal Service enacted an effective ban on the original magazine, The Liberator rose from the outlawed ashes to deliver an incendiary, internationally-minded, and unapologetically Communist magazine to the World stage.

Eastman, with assistance from his sister Crystal, got the old gang back together and called in some new recruits. As was prioritized at The Masses, The Liberator insisted on featuring strikingly imaginative and modernist magazine covers, as well as the usual doses of political cartoons, poetry, and literary offerings. 

The Liberator did, however, have to make some concessions towards the censors in high places. While the magazine retained its decidedly Communist ideology, it did attempt to distance themselves a bit by printing speeches and essays by Revolutionaries and toning down some of the editorializing, and foregrounded the Art and Culture aspects more than The Masses previously had.

Write Brain TV proudly presents, the final collection in our Liberator series exploring the history of Radical and forbidden works of literature. Enjoy!